Work-Life Balance Tips from a Property Management Coach

One of the major struggles that sole proprietors have in their property management business is achieving work-life balance. How do we accomplish that?

Most of us go into business because we want to have our own free time, we want to make money and be our own bosses and be creative and see our ideas come to fruition. Often, what happens is that we get overwhelmed by the day to day functions of our property management business, and what was once a dream gets turned into a career-sucking job. With a job that seems to take up 24 hours of our day, we get burnt out.

Here’s the tip I’m sharing today:

You need to set boundaries and stick to them.

If you work 24 hours a day and seven days a week and you’re always in business mode, your clients will come to expect that you are available all the time. Then, you don’t let them appreciate the value that you bring to the table. Experiment with taking a Friday off or closing for a weekend or a holiday. The conversation you’re probably having in your head is: I can’t do that, I’ll lose clients! Or, maybe you’re telling yourself that your owners would never accept that.

Ask yourself:

Is that really true?

Statements like those would be called a limiting belief. I can offer you a little bit of information about my own personal experience as an owner of a property management company. My office is closed every single weekend and the entire week of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Depending on the calendar year, sometimes we are closed from the Christmas holiday through New Years. Not one owner has ever complained and not one tenant has ever complained. So, I challenge you to get real with what you want out of your business. The reality is that you make the decisions. The easiest way to get some work-life balance is to set boundaries and get real about what you really want.

Kathleen Richards, MPM®, CPC®, MS in Management, was Broker/Owner of a successful management company with CRMC®. She knows firsthand the highs and lows of being a business owner. She is a nationally recognized coach, speaker, instructor, author, and thought leader for the last 30 years focusing on business, leadership, and specifically the field of property management. She owns PM Made Easy – customizable products to streamline operations and founded The Property Management Coach. She can be reached at 800-475-3084.